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By Annabelle Liang | AP
April 14 at 23:28
SINGAPORE – Asian markets were generally higher Monday on signs that the United States and China were about to conclude a trade agreement after months of negotiations.
The Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.7% to 3,243.91. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.5% to 22,190.71 and Kospi in South Korea rose 0.7% to 2,249.43.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.1% to 30,245.00, while the Australian S & P ASX 200 lost 0.1% to 6,244.90. Inventories increased in Taiwan, Singapore and Indonesia, but dropped in the Philippines.
On Saturday, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters that the United States and China are on the verge of moving closer to a trade deal.
Speaking on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank's spring meetings, Mr Mnuchin said that the United States and China had had telephone conversations last week and that he did not know not if any other face-to-face meetings would be necessary. It did not specify a timetable for the conclusion of the negotiations.
Mr Mnuchin added that the proposed agreement had seven chapters and would allow both countries to establish control offices to ensure compliance with the agreement. This has fueled the hope that a far-reaching conflict between the two largest economies in the world could soon be settled.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Thursday that talks were progressing and "substantial new progress" had been made.
"We and China are actively hopeful that a trade agreement is at hand." These data, combined with better-than-expected Chinese data in March, helped the Shanghai Composite Index to reach its highest level since March 2018, "said Philip Wee and Joanne Goh, strategists of the DBS Research group.
Last week, China announced that its exports in March had increased by 14.2% over the previous year. This was a turnaround from February's contraction of 20.8%, a sign of stronger world demand. Sales in the US market also accelerated despite President Donald Trump's duties of up to 25 percent on Chinese goods worth $ 250 billion.
On Wall Street, strong gains by banks on Friday led the broad S & P 500 index to record its third consecutive weekly gain. He finished 0.7% higher at 2,907.41.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded 1% to 26,412.30 and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.5% to 7,984.16. The Russell 2000 stock index of smaller companies rose 0.4% to 1,584.80.
ENERGY: The benchmark US crude lost 24 cents to $ 63.65 a barrel during electronic transactions on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 31 cents to close at $ 63.89 on Friday. Brent, used for the price of international oil, lost 12 cents to 71.43 dollars a barrel in London. He added 72 cents in the previous session to $ 71.55.
CURRENCY: The dollar has weakened from 112.01 yen to 111.99 yen on Friday night. The euro rose from 1.1300 dollar to 1.1315 dollar.
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